?Chapter 1044:


    “Ernest.” N’s voice grew stern. Her eyes narrowed as she watched her eldest grandson closely. “Tell me, do you know something I don’t? Have you always known that he isn’t Eric?”


    Ernest’s expression tensed. His lips pressed together tightly as he avoided her gaze.


    With N’s insistence on a DNA test, there was no hiding it. Once the results came back, the truth would beid bare.


    N, who had a keen sense of Ernest’s character after raising him herself, felt a dread solidifying inside her.


    She gasped, choking back sobs as she spoke. “God, it’s really true!” N suddenly reached out, grabbed Eric by the cor, and pulled him close. Her eyes searched his face, desperately seeking answers.


    “You bear such a resemnce to my Eric, yet you’re not him! If you’re not Eric, then who are you? Where is my grandson? What have you done to him to take his ce? Speak!”


    “Grandma…” Eric’s head drooped, shame rendering him speechless.


    “Refusing to speak?” N’s frustration surged as she turned to Ernest and grabbed his arm. “Then you must tell me! Where is your brother?”


    “What happened to him?”


    “Grandma…” Ernest was equally at a loss for words.


    “You knew this man was an impostor…”


    N’s aged eyes clouded with confusion and sorrow.


    A sudden memory struck her, causing her to gasp. “I get it now. The year you were both kidnapped… the one who returned with you wasn’t Eric, was it? It was him!” Ernest stayed silent.


    At this point, his silence spoke volumes.


    A soft moan escaped N as she closed her eyes, overwhelmed by pain. Tears rushed down her cheeks.


    She remembered now!


    where stories grow


    When Eric was rescued and came back home that year, he was different. The boy who had always been gentle and reserved had turned unpredictable and defiant…


    “I thought… I was so sure…” N’s voice broke off, her thoughts scattered.


    She had convinced herself that the dramatic change in her grandson’s behavior was the aftermath of the trauma from being kidnapped.


    “It turned out…”


    It turned out that it wasn’t a change in personality; it was apletely different person taking Eric’s ce.


    Back when the boys had returned safe and sound, N’s heart had been so flooded with relief and joy that she hadn’t dwelled on the subtle cues.


    The joy she had felt then was now met with an equal measure of despair.


    “Eric, Eric… my grandson!” N held Ernest’s cor tightly and asked desperately, “Where is your brother? What have you done with Eric? Answer me! Bring back my Eric!”


    “Grandma…” Ernest looked pained, his brow creased with a heavy helplessness. “Eric… he’s gone.”


    If he hadn’t lost his real brother, there would have been no need for Ernest to find someone to take his ce.


    At that time, since both of his parents had passed away, Ernest feared that the additional loss would be too much for N to bear. So, he brought this person with him to take Eric’s ce.


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